Montclair, NJ – Sophomore outside hitter Courtney Matlock (Jackson, NJ, Jackson Memorial) posted a career-best 25 kills, including three in the decisive fifth set as Montclair State rallied for a 3-2 victory over Hunter College at the Panzer Athletic Center on Thursday evening.

Sophomore Melissa Terpstra (Midland Park, NJ, Midland Park) added seven kills, six aces and 15 digs as the Red Hawks battled back from a 2-1 deficit for a 25-21, 22-25, 22-25, 25-19, 15-13 victory over the Hawks (8-12) as they took the lead in the all-time series at 10-9.

Matlock, the NJAC Player of the Week became just the third Red Hawk in program history to record 25 or more kills in a match and the most since Heather Aciz knocked down 26 against York College (NY) on September 23, 2006. Matlock hit .413 for the match committing just six errors in 46 attempts.

Matlock had seven kills in the opening set including one that gave MSU the lead at 8-7. Montclair led 13-11 before running off five consecutive points the last three on kills by Matlock widening the lead to 18-11. Matlock's final kill of the set put the Red Hawks up 24-18 however Hunter reeled of three straight closing the gap to 24-21. But a service error by the Hunter gave Montclair the victory and a 1-0 lead in the match.

The Hawks would take the next two sets by identical 25-22 scores before squared the match with a 25-19 win in the fourth. Matlock, who hit .413 for the match (25-6-46) had six kills, collecting on that put Montclair in front 14-10. Hayley Merrill (West Windsor, NJ, West Windsor-Plainsboro South), who posted nine kills in the match, pushed the lead to 17-12 and a kill from Matlock gave Montclair State a six-point advantage at 22-16. After Hunter got within 23-19, Leah Stine (Bridgewater, NJ, Bridgewater-Raritan) connected on consecutive attempts for the 25-19 triumph.

The fifth set was a back-and-forth affair with eight ties and four lead changes. Hunter grabbed a 13-12 lead before Montclair ripped off the next three points to take the match. Merrill tied the match with one of her six kills in the set and Matlock's 25th kill gave the Red Hawks a 14-13 lead. Terpstra punctuated the comeback with her sixth ace for the victory.

Freshman Madison Maute (Sparta, NJ, Sparta) had six kill and five total blocks for Montclair, which tallied 10 in the match. Rebecca Matasker (Washington Township, NJ, Westwood) chipped in with five kills, three aces and five blocks while Kimberly Matlock (Jackson, NJ, Jackson Memorial) recorded a match-high 37 digs. Lily Scanzillo (Upper Saddle River, NJ, Northern Highlands) led the way for Montclair State with 21 digs while Samantha Szura (Hewitt, NJ, Ramapo) added eight.

The Red Hawks are now off until Tuesday, October 7 when it travels to Camden, NJ for a New Jersey Athletic Conference matchup with Rutgers-Camden.